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The new console will be introduced by Microsoft on May 21 and will officially go on sale during this year's holiday shopping season, according to veteran technology blogger Paul Thurrott.

On his most recent "What the Tech," podcast, he explained that Microsoft's next console will be available in November and will cost $500 for a regular model and $300 for a subscription model. He also agreed with previous reports that state that the system will always be online.

"The thing that interests me, going back and looking at some of the stuff I got a long time ago, it actually says 'must be internet connected to use' in the notes," he explained. "And that's all I have, but it does say that."

The Xbox 720 will be a gaming device and will not serve as some kind of entertainment hub, according to the podcast.

"We have talked for a while about this notion that there might be another version of the Xbox that was just aimed at entertainment- a non gaming device," he said. "That device was code-named 'Yumo' and they're not making it. They may make one in the future, but it's not happening this year."

Thurrott shot down the hopes of those expecting the next Xbox to be backwards compatible.

"They're also going to sell a new Xbox 360 code-named 'Stingray' that will be $99," he revealed. "I don't actually know this for a fact, but based on the fact that they're making one- I don't think that the new Xbox will play 360 games. But that I don't actually know, that I'm guessing."

Thurrott claims to have a reliable source for this information, however, these still should be considered rumors as nothing has been stated as official by Microsoft at this time.